Sunday, 4 March 2012


International Child and Youth Care Network Conference in Scotland

CYC-Net, the international non-profit and public benefit organisation based in South Africa, is holding a a conference on Wednesday, March 21st 2012 at the Glynhill Hotel, Renfrew. The conference is being by the Kibble Education and Youth Care.
The organisers suggest that the conference sessions will be about sharing and discussion. There will be an opportunity to hear, share and network with over 30 internationally renowned leaders in the field.
The day's programme The Road Ahead is as follows :
Session 1: Innovations and Inspirations in Contemporary Practice : a sharing of something in child and youth care which is new, creative, supportive, perhaps even old, yet innovative in some arena of child and youth care practice.
Session 2: Innovations and Inspirations in Preparing for the Future : in this session delgates are invited to share something exciting, creative and innovative around helping young people prepare for, or face the future. It might be a specific programme, programme component or an inspiring idea.
Session 3: Innovations and Inspirations in e-learning and Education for Praxis : delegates are invited to share interesting, new, different ideas or programmes in e-learning, education, training etc. It might be an on-line learning site, a direct care working training, a mentorship learning programme. How we are helping people to learn what they need to learn in order to move towards greater competency in practice ?
Session 4: Stormy Weather Forecasts : an international panel, chaired by Andy Schneider-Munoz, will discuss their thoughts on a decade of financial turbulence for child and youth care.,
This will be followed by brief closing reflections on this day of Child and Youth Care of "innovations and inspirations."
The fee for the first day of the conference is £95. To book a place at the conference contact Carolynne Kelly on 0141 847 6609 or carolynne.kelly@kibble.org
In the evening there will be a Scottish night with traditional dancing and light supper available for booking.*
*An additional Booking fee for Wednesday evening entertainment may apply.

This news item was first posted on the goodenoughcaring website home page at http.www.goodenoughcaring.com 

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Social Care Ireland's 2012 Annual Conference in Kilkenny

Social Care Ireland’s National Conference “Social Care 2012 Taking Stock” will be held on the 28th and 29th March 2012 at the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny.

Social care in Ireland faces into an uncertain future and the conference convenors believe that there is no better time to “take stock.” The focus of the conference will be promoted by the three keynote speakers. The first of these is Sister Stan Kennedy who will address the theme, “Justice for all our Children.” Secondly, Keith White will reflect on “Returning the Gaze - Learning from History,”and in the final keynote address Damien Courtney considers “The Development of Social Care Education and Training in Ireland.”

Other speakers include Dave Williams, Jim Cantwell, Majella Mulkeen, Lavinia McLean of Cottage Home, , Helen Buggle, Aisling Byrne, Leo Gordon, Maria Kenneally, Emmet Tuite, Moira Jenkins, Deirdre Bonar, Residential managers from Fresh Start, Dr. John Digney, Noelle Fitzgerald, Cian Aherne, Andy Sheppard, Judy Doyle, Pat McGarty, David Power, Dr.Liam Leonard, Dr. Paula Kenny, Aoife Killeen, Mark Taylor, Margaret Gilmore, Dorothy Walsh, Brenda Kneafsey, Pat Bergin and Marie Claire O’Brien.

The conference always offers an opportunity for meeting and sharing with people from the three different professions represented by Social Care Ireland - practitioners, educators and managers - and this has become a welcome and postive feature of recent conferences. The 2012 conference promises to be no different.

To book a place at the conference go to http://www.socialcareireland.ie

If you need further help contact roisin@hotel-solutions.ie

This news item first appeared on the goodenoughcaring website home page at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com on February 14th, 2012.

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

The Mulberry Bush School and Institute of Education Seminar

The Mulberry Bush School and the Institute of Education in London are presenting a half day seminar :

"Outcomes research for the children’s care sector."

This seminar will be of interest to all professionals working to provide excellent outcomes for Looked After Children.

The seminar takes place on Tuesday, February 21st, from 12- 4 pm at the Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL.

The cost is £40.00. For tickets contact Rosie Campbell at rosie@mulberrybush.org.uk or telephone 01865 300202 ext. 259

This news item first appeared on the home page of goodenoughcaring at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com on February 8th, 2012.

Tuesday, 31 January 2012


A Commentary for the Holistic Politico - Psychological Model(2011) - for the Solution Focussed Discussion of a Child’s Mental Health Needs and their Wellbeing within the Context of a Multi-professional Planning or Child in Need Meeting.


Dave Traxson, who is a senior educational psychologist for Worcestershire County Council has provided us this text of a seminar which he presented on January 12th, 2012 to the British Psychological Society (Division of Educational and Child Psychology) conference "Change in Mind : Changing Times" at Stratford upon Avon.
Dave believes the paper represents a radical attempt to promote solution focussed discussion at case conferences about a child's mental health needs. It is rooted in humanistic psychological principles and it is compatible with the ethos of Social Pedagogy.
Dave and his colleagues would like this model to be it widely circulated for caring professionals to use. They make notes to help formulate their hypothesis on the blank proforma and use the full version as an aide memoire for prompting areas of discussion. Initial reactions have been very positive and they are looking for further support with this shared endeavour in order to challenge the influence of the imminently arriving DSM5 from the United States of America in 2013 which will widen prescribing and would in his view result in many false positives in the mental illness for children and young people.
The text can be found by clicking on therapeutic care and social pedagogy on our title strip at the top of the page.

This news item first appeared on the goodenoughcaring homepage at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com  

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Flying through an ethereal letterbox near you : issue 10 of the goodenoughcaring Journal lands on December 15th



The new issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal goes online in mid-December. In our last issue John Stein wrote about the influence of mothers and so one of the themes of this next issue is the relatively less explored territory of fatherhood and aspects of this are examined in a poem by Jan Noble and in articles by Joyce Carol Oates, Alex Russon, Mark Smith and John Stein. Marion Bennathan writes about nurture groups in schools and Cynthia Cross recollects the nature of residential child care in the 1960s and compares it with current practice. Jeremy Millar makes a personal assessment of the work and thoughts of Chris Beedell while Moira Strachan discusses the relevance of a child observation placement toward her development as a social care worker. Noel Howard has written a moving review of Danny Ellis' CD 800 Voices : the heartache and the healing. John Molloy provides a review of Richard Webster's book The Secret of Bryn Estyn Bob Forrest has provided us with part two of The Kerelaw Papers and Pat Petrie writes about the Sing Up for Looked After Children project. News of further articles will appear here within the next few days.

This news item first appeared on November 25th, 2011 on the home page of the goodenoughcaring website at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com

Friday, 2 December 2011

Conference : Young People in Crisis? Exploring transitions to adulthood



The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and Kids Company are holding a joint conference on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at the Tavistock Centre in London.
"Young People in Crisis? Exploring transitions to adulthood" is being held at a time when concerns about young people have spilled over once more into anxieties about the cohesion of society and social relatedness. The aim of this one day conference is to explore the key issues faced by young people with difficulties in making the transition to adulthood.
The conference will bring together the innovative practice developed by Kids Company, which effectively reaches out to many young people who find it difficult to access services, and the developmental approach of the Tavistock Clinic's Adolescent Department's to clinical practice, supervision, teaching and research. The conference will draw on recent understanding and developments of young people from a range of perspectives including neuroscience and psychosocial.
It is suitable for all practitioners working with young people (15-30 years) in CAMHS, adult services, social care, children, adult, leaving care, youth offending and criminal justice organisations. It will also be relevant for managers and policy makers.

The speakers include:
Camila Batmanghelidjh, Founder and Director, Kids Company,
Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London,
Professor Stephen Briggs, Associate Dean, Specialist and Adult Health Services (SAMHS), The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
The fee for the conference is £110 (£90 for Tavistock students and TSP members).
For more information or to book a place at the conference telephone 020 8938 2285 or Fax 020 7447 3837


This news item first appeared at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com on the goodenoughcaring website home page in October 2011.

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Flying through an ethereal letterbox near you : issue 10 of the goodenoughcaring Journal lands on December 15th


Flying through an ethereal letterbox near you : issue 10 of the goodenoughcaring Journal lands on December 15th

The new issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal goes online in mid-December.The new issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal goes online in mid-December. In our last issue John Stein wrote about the influence of mothers and so one of the themes of this next issue is the relatively less considered matter of fatherhood and aspects of this are explored in a poem by Jan Noble and in articles by Joyce Carol Oates, Alex Russon, Mark Smith and John Stein. Marion Bennathan writes about nurture groups in schools and Cynthia Cross recollects the nature of residential child care in the 1960s and compares it with current practice. Jeremy Millar makes a personal assessment of the work and thoughts of Chris Beedell while Moira Strachan discusses the relevance of a child observation placement toward her development as a social care worker. Noel Howard has written a moving review of Danny Ellis' CD 800 Voices : the heartache and the healing. John Molloy's remarkable review of Richard Webster's book The Secret of Bryn Estyn which is currently on this page in the section about Richard Webster will also be published. News of further articles will appear here within the next few days.


This notice first appeared on December 1st, 2011 on the goodenoughcaring homepage at
http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/